SCATTERED AMONG THE STARS
They're 26 and 25 years old when their paths cross again. Ian dropped below the radar and became an M16 agent, while Amy became the Madrigal Branch Leader. When he discovers a rogue Madrigal stealing files from the M16, he seeks Amy out for her help. "So, Amy Cahill, will you marry me?"
Rated T for swearing and potentially hinted adult content later on.
(As of 12th Aug 2016, I am no longer Amber-Raven-Cahill. My pen name has been changed to icybluedepths.)
CHAPTER 1
"Nobody sees, nobody knows/We are a secret, can't be exposed"
- Zara Larsson, Uncover
/
December 19th 2015, 0100
"Ma'am? This is Guard Lionel Stuart, calling in from Tower 2."
"Yes?"
"Ma'am, there's a man… a drunk man that is around our premises. He's… shouting very loudly."
"What is he shouting?"
"Your name, ma'am."
"What does he look like?"
"I can't quite tell, but it looks like he has black hair, tanned skin and rather odd eyes, if I may say so myself – they look yellowish, but I can't really see in the dark."
"Would you describe them as amber?"
"Yes! Yes, that's the word, ma'am."
"Thank you. Leave him there. I'll call back as soon as I can once I decide."
"Yes, ma'am."
Amy Cahill put down the phone and sat up on her bed, looking out of the window her back turned to when she sat at her table. It was a beautiful window – a sophisticated black frame that screamed money, the glass polished so brightly that in the day it gave her a headache when she looked at it sometimes.
The window, like everything else, gave her nothing but pure irritation.
It was one in the morning! One does not simply begin shouting one's name at one in the morning! Amy felt nothing but irritation at this man who had disturbed her sleep.
She quickly corrected herself. No, he wasn't 'this man'. You know him.
It was too easy to figure out who this mysterious man was – much, much too easy. From the guard's description, there was only one man she knew that fit the given description.
Sighing, she picked up the phone again and rubbed her eyes; coughing slightly to remove the dry scratchy throat she always felt waking up so goddamn early without any warning at all or – god forbid – coffee. I want my coffee!
"Pick him up. Then send him to the interrogation room in thirty minutes. There's no need to handcuff him. I'll be there soon."
/
Ian Kabra awoke to a white room.
He looked around. It was white, white, white…
Ian's amber eyes were swollen and red, his face typically that one would find on a severely drunken man who had no idea where he was, no idea what he was doing and no intention at all of trying to leave.
Nobody was in the room with him. Ian tried not to seem too pleased for a drunken man.
When Amy walked in, he adopted the same look again.
"Ian."
"Mmmwargh…"
"Ian."
This was really far too much fun. "Kowaishk…aheriuv…drwuf… more beer!" He risked opening his eyes fully to see her expression.
Oh, this really was too much fun. It was harder not to laugh than to actually keep this pretence up.
"Ian Kabra. What are you doing here, drunk?"
"To see you, of course." He leaned forward while swaying a little, looking up at her with the best smoulder he thought a drunk man would be able to muster.
To his absolute disappointment, Amy didn't react as he thought she would. Or rather, hoped she would. "Very funny, Ian."
He settled back into his chair, dropping the façade as he sat up straight and placed his elbows on the iron table that stood between them. "Hello, Amy."
She smirked. "I was wondering when you'd stop lying, you know," she told him, "or did you actually think you had me tricked?"
Say you knew, fool! "Of course not. I was wondering when you'd tell me to stop." Feeling emboldened when she said nothing, he leaned forward and braced his forearms on the table before drawling, "And what makes you think I was lying?" He sat back to his chair, amber eyes tracking her movements lazily.
The redhead flushed the same colour as her hair. At his words, a feeling stirred up in her lower abdomen, hot and uncomfortable.
His eyes darkened.
Damn you, Ian Kabra, she thought furiously, damn you and your open collar and your stupid eyes and your -
Ian, noting her anger and how uncomfortable she looked, took the initiative to break the silence. "So, how's everything?"
Her eyes flashed, and she stood up sharply, the motion quick and angry. "You would know – how dare you."
"How dare I what, exactly? Do elaborate."
The Madrigal walked over to the shorter side of the table, bracing a hand against it while the other held something beyond his vision.
She didn't bother answering his question.
"You've been doing well for yourself, Ian," she hissed, throwing down a file with his photo paper clipped to it. "M16, wow- two years of 'outstanding service in the field'. Hey, a few decorated medals or two... look at that. Having fun in your new life?"
Ian swallowed painfully but he said nothing.
She narrowed her eyes. "I thought you were dead, you know. We all did. Natalie did."
At the mention of his sister, an old wound ripped apart, leaking blood and salty tears. Don't you dare, Ian. "Is she here?" he asked, not looking at her. He hated the way his voice cracked while saying it.
Amy raised an eyebrow at this unprecedented display of affection for his sister, but she answered the question anyway. "No, she's not," she said carefully, watching the way his hands curled in on themselves. "She's with Nellie, in Europe. Holidaying."
Oh. So Natalie had listened after all and not gone looking for him. She was safe, then. Ian didn't know whether to feel relieved or betrayed. He settled for the first one.
"I see."
Amy scowled. "Back to the topic at hand," she snapped, pushing the file towards him until it almost touches his chest. "What are you doing here? Especially as an M16 agent?" She almost spat out the words, hateful and poisonous.
He turned to look at her, and she bit back this traitorous feeling stirring within her. His eyes were impossibly sad, the amber more piercing than usual, the quiet regret shining.
"I would have thought you, of all people, understood."
Her hands shook in anger. "Understood what?"
"Why I left the Lucian branch. Why I left the world of the Cahills."
She shook her head impatiently. "No. You wanted that position. I know you did."
He cocked his head, watching her strangely. "Ah. As sharp as ever, I see." Ian stretched, any trace of that odd remorse gone. "Yes, I did want that position. Yes, I left. So what?"
"I want to know why."
"Why do you want to know?"
"Because I want to know, Ian. You were my friend. If there was anything troubling you, I would have known – "
"Ah, but that's the problem there. Aside from the fact that I'm a little hurt we're not still friends, but that's a problem for another time."
Ian stood up and took a step towards Amy. "If you were my friend, then you would have seen it."
She said nothing.
He continued. "You would have seen the things I was facing in the Lucian court. You would have offered to take Natalie in discreetly so that she wouldn't know, wouldn't have to face her elder brother's shame in being unable to control the bloody court that plotted to end the Kabra line and take over the position as Lucian head."
He took another step towards her. "So how dare you, Amy Cahill, ask me why I left, because my first priority was to Natalie, and they were going to kill her!"
His shout resonated against the four walls.
Determined not to lose her composure, Amy simply raised an eyebrow and uttered two words: "I see."
Ian growled, and for a moment, Amy was genuinely scared – this wasn't the Ian she'd known before he left. That Ian had, at least, changed for the better and become a somewhat amicable person.
She steeled her nerves. "I will speak to you again in the morning," she said calmly. "Maybe tomorrow will be better. Should you require anything, please inform one of the guards."
Amy got up from the table. "Goodnight, Ian."
Ian, who had sat back down in his chair, ran a hand through his hair and leaned his elbow on the table, his head resting against his palm. A pause, a sigh, and then: "Goodnight, Amy."
Amy suppressed a wonderful feeling when he'd said goodnight back. It's not right. It's not right.
She had not worked so hard to be respected as the Madrigal Branch Leader just to be brought down by one single interaction with him. She would not. She had changed – and she liked the new Amy better. The Cahills would never have accepted the stuttering, nervous, awkward Amy Cahill as one of the top five personnel of their world.
They had, however, accepted this clever, sharp, woman who knew what she was doing, who acted like leading was an innate part of her personality, who had been born to lead.
No, she would not be brought down. She could not.
The sound of her heels clicked down the hallway and then became entirely impossible to hear.
/
December 20th 2015, 0800
When Ian woke up, he found himself in a room with an ensuite washroom, a small sofa of sorts, and a television.
Oh, and not to mention the extremely plush, comfortable bed he was lying on. Tucked under thousand-count thread sheets, with a snug pillow under his head. Ian sighed and pulled the covers up further, tugging them past his shoulders. He felt two years old again. It was surprisingly great.
"Ian."
Amy had come calling. Taking care to poise himself with grace, he responded without opening his eyes, "Good morning, Amy. What would you like to do today?"
"Oh, I don't know – preferably not get a sore throat yelling at you all day long."
"Are you sure? I'd be perfectly happy with you yelling my name all day long."
"IAN!"
"Ah, there we go. What a lovely sound. Are you sure you don't want to go on?"
"I won't respond to that. Get your lazy butt off that bed now."
Ian sat up straight on the edge of the bed, his feet planted firmly on the floor. "What should I do next?"
"Brushing your teeth would be good. And then maybe stop giving me so much trouble. Doing a few jumping jacks to occupy thine worthy time would be good."
"Of course."
To Amy's surprise, Ian actually got up and walked towards the bathroom. Moments later, she heard the tap running and the sound of brushing teeth.
He came out five minutes later, smelling clean and fresh and good and oh my Lord, where was his shirt..?
Stop right there, Amy, she told herself. He's not yours to watch.
But his dark hair was graced with little beads of shining water, and when he used a white towel to dry it off, she could see the tendons of muscle stretching and relaxing; the strong planes of his tanned back –
Suddenly it was slightly difficult to breathe.
And then he turned around, towelling off the last drops of water from his hair, a questioning look in his eyes. Oh, he knew.
A long silence filled the air between them.
It's just hormones, Amy told herself fiercely. Just skin-deep attraction between a young man and woman. Completely normal. Nothing to worry about.
Ian broke the silence first. "So, where – " he cleared his throat. His voice had come out deep and rough, a slightly raspy quality to it. Clearing it again, he continued, "Where are we going?"
"I'm bringing you to see the Madrigal Council. If they see fit to clear you, then I'll bring you up during the Branch meeting in one month's time, which, if I remember correctly, will take place on the 26th of February, 2016."
Ian opened his mouth, and then closed it. "Are you serious? Amy, this is such a great development in our relationship – I'm important enough to be brought up in a Branch meeting! Perfect. Exactly what I wanted when hiding from the Lucian Branch. You did such a great job."
The Madrigal Leader scowled, glaring at him angrily. "Do you actually think I'm going to do that? It was a test. No, I'm not going to bring you to the Branch meeting. I'm twenty-five, not five."
Ian did his best to not blush irrevocably. So much for fancy M16 training, Kabra, he snapped internally. Now you've done it. She thinks you're a bloody fool. Say something!
"Well then. It was a good test. Now, I would really appreciate it if I were told where we're actually going." Indeed, as they had been speaking, Amy had begun walking, and Ian, like the good captive he was, had followed her.
"Don't push my patience. You shouldn't even be here. Keep silent and be grateful I'm not giving you to the Lucians right now," she replied.
"How do I know you're not taking me to them right now?" he challenged.
"Because you trust me."
Silence reigned for the rest of the walk.
/
They were back in the interrogation room.
Ian groaned loudly, and Amy, sitting down on a chair on one side of the table, turned to glare at him. He smirked at her. She ignored whatever pesky… feelings were stirring up within her.
"So, what are we here to do today?" Ian yawned, stretching up and out, arms coming back down slowly – a movement that was somehow so eminently masculine, Amy felt the irresistible urge to fan herself with the thin file lying atop the table in front of her. It was almost comical, this interaction between them, and the redhead fought the laughter threatening to bubble out.
"We're here to know why you came to us," she told him.
"How do you know I came to you? Maybe I'm just playing all of you," he replied suggestively.
Amy opened the file labelled Ian Kabra. "Stop flirting, Ian," she said dismissively. "It won't get you anywhere."
"Not even to your private quarters?"
She slammed the file shut and got up from the chair violently. "Shut up, Ian," she snarled. "I don't want any of your lies and tricks. I'm not here for that. You want to get into somebody's private quarters? Go find a nightclub and say your lines to someone who actually wants to hear them."
Taking a deep breath, Amy continued speaking in a calmer tone. "We are adults, therefore, we shall act like adults. Now," she finished, sitting back down in the chair, "what are you doing here, Agent Kabra?"
"I am here, Agent Cahill, because there has been a discovery of a rogue Madrigal agent who has possibly infiltrated the M16 organization and is, I believe, taking files from the database located at the M16 main base, and smuggling them back to his home.
"The files in question are not taken away for long; at most a day or two, but it is still a matter of utmost importance. That being said, I require your assistance as the Leader of the Madrigal Branch of the Cahills to remove this potential traitor from the M16, as there are numerous classified files in that database which may, if leaked to the general public, endanger national safety.
"Before you question why this physical database has not yet been uploaded to our current, modern database, allow me to explain. These secrets date back almost a hundred years, back to the First World War. Sensitive information such as this is better kept as a physical copy. Additionally, there are just too many files; this is not the only physical database the M16 has. The process is slow because it goes through many hands and many checking processes before it is finally uploaded digitally."
Amy blinked. "And how am I to help you?" she asked, barely a beat off.
"I will make you my office assistant. My work cover for my peers is a stockbroker. I return to the base only a few times a year, other than that, I have to work in an office like any normal person. Doing, of course, work unrelated to that of a stockbroker. Well. Mostly."
Ian leaned forward, his hands clasped together in front of him. His eyes were twinkling. Amy thought she could see a sliver of the person he had been before he'd defected from the Lucians.
"So, Amy Cahill, will you marry me?"
/
A/N Many, many thanks to RivalArgentica for helping me look this over.
And yes – it's a new multi-chaptered story! I hope you guys enjoy this :).